Dec 18, 2012

Creamy white bean soup, with roasted garlic and a touch of sage. So simple and inexpensive to make, and so so good. Leftovers can be frozen.

This started out as an experiment, and ended as a soup. I never know what to expect when I throw something in the slow cooker, I wanted to see if I can cook white beans in the crock pot without soaking them first. The answer is yes you can; it took about 3-4 hours on high. But they basically looked like cooked beans in water, not like a thick pot of beans that I imagined so I quickly fixed that and turned this into a great tasting soup.

As a kid, I remember my Mom pureeing all my soups to make me eat them. As an adult, I tend to still like my beans pureed in my soup. You can leave some beans whole as I did to give it some texture, or blend the whole thing, up to you.

My method for roasting garlic is a little unconventional, I peel my cloves before roasting because I prefer not to have to do it after. Completely up to you how you roast your garlic, the end result is the same. If you are pressed for time, and wish to skip the roasted garlic, it will still taste wonderful. I personally think adding them makes it go from good to great.

Note: if you want to make this vegetarian, substitute the chicken bouillon for vegetable.

Place beans, 3 cloves of the garlic, water and a few sage leaves in the crock pot; cover and set to HIGH 4 hours, or until beans are soft. Don't add salt.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°. Place remaining garlic cloves in the center of a 7x7 inch square of aluminum foil (photo above is showing half of the cloves, use the whole thing). Cover garlic with olive oil and a little salt. Seal aluminum tightly and place in the oven 25-30 minutes, until garlic is soft and golden. Remove from oven and set aside until the beans are done.

When the beans are soft, add the bouillon and mix well until dissolved, then carefully some of the beans and liquid along with the roasted garlic to the blender. Blend until smooth and pour it back into the crock pot. Repeat with the remaining beans until you get the texture you desire. You can also use an immersion blender if you have one. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

Serve with fresh sage and white pepper on top and if you wish, some whole roasted garlic cloves on top. (I reserved a few)

Phytohaemagglutinin, the presumed toxic agent, is found in many species of beans, but it is in highest concentration in red kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). The unit of toxin measure is the hemagglutinating unit (hau). Raw kidney beans contain from 20,000 to 70,000 hau, while fully cooked beans contain from 200 to 400 hau. White kidney beans, another variety of Phaseolus vulgaris, contain about one-third the amount of toxin as the red variety; broad beans (Vicia faba) contain 5 to 10% the amount that red kidney beans contain.

The syndrome is usually caused by the ingestion of raw, soaked kidney beans, either alone or in salads or casseroles. As few as four or five raw beans can trigger symptoms. Several outbreaks have been associated with "slow cookers" or crock pots, or in casseroles which had not reached a high enough internal temperature to destroy the glycoprotein lectin. It has been shown that heating to 80°C may potentiate the toxicity five-fold, so that these beans are more toxic than if eaten raw. In studies of casseroles cooked in slow cookers, internal temperatures often did not exceed 75°C.

This looks fantastic! I've been looking for an inexpensive crock pot dinner and this is perfect! I use your recipes all time for everything from daily meals to entertaining to a starting point for something new and the compliments never stop! Keep up the awesome :oD

I can't wait to try this. I discovered your site just recently and have made so many recipes from it that you couldn't even imagine. My family loves them and many times they have no clue just how healthy they are. Thanks for adding the variety back into healthy eating. Please, please please keep up the great work! You have a great talent!

This soup looks wonderful, but please be aware that cooking dry beans in a slow cooker can be poisonous. Dried beans contain a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin which is usually destroyed if boiled in water for 10 minutes. The slow cooker will not kill off this toxin unless they have been preliminarily boiled. Cannellini (white kidney beans) contain some of the highest levels of this toxin.

The syndrome is usually caused by the ingestion of raw, soaked kidney beans, either alone or in salads or casseroles. As few as four or five raw beans can trigger symptoms. Several outbreaks have been associated with "slow cookers" or crock pots, or in casseroles which had not reached a high enough internal temperature to destroy the glycoprotein lectin. It has been shown that heating to 80°C may potentiate the toxicity five-fold, so that these beans are more toxic than if eaten raw. In studies of casseroles cooked in slow cookers, internal temperatures often did not exceed 75°C.

Depends on the bean. Kidney and cannelloni beans contain this toxin and need to be brought to a boil while cooking. Other beans do not contain this toxin, but check before cooking on low in the slow cooker.

I'm going to make this today. I'm going to be adding roughly chopped pimento pepper and spinach after pureeing, but before it's done cooking, to make it something of a Tuscan White Bean Florentine soup.

I'll be cooking mine on high. My slow cooker boils at high so that should kill off any toxins.

I love bean soups so will definitely try this one. Because I now live alone and my dry beans tend to be harder than they used to be, I would probably soak them at least overnight before proceeding with the crockpot. Gina, I buy my garlic at Costco in the plastic container, already peeled and cloves separated. How many of those should I roast for this recipe?

This recipe sounds delicious. I went to the supermarket to buy the beans, and saw pinto, navy, limas, but no white beans. It may be that they are not sold in my part of the world (southeastern Virginia)but is there a substitute. I can get canned white (cannilini beans) but no dry ones.

This looks so good! I absolutely adore roasted garlic too. I love how you peeled the garlic first as well. I'm going to have to try that for sure. I always feel like I waste a lot of the garlic when trying to squeeze them out of the skins after roasting. I actually can't believe I haven't thought of this yet!

Gina...do you use a garlic press, or do you typically just dice the garlic? I know this recipe is pureed, but just curious. I don't have a garlic press, and wonder if they are useful? PS - love all your recipes! Can't wait for your cookbook! Cath

Made this tonight and it was so easy! We were a little disappointed with the flavor and consistency, though. I followed the directions exactly but it was too watery and thin. It was a bit bland, too. I'm going to blend in some roasted onion and add some spice to the leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. I wonder what I did wrong...

Mine was thick too. I used an immersion blender. Did you throw in the additional garlic from the oven? That together with the beans made it a nice consistency. I used salt and white pepper to season and the flavor was amazing. This soup and the split pea are my favorites :)

I just made this with canned white kidney beans and added some crushed red pepper for some heat and some dried basil to it along with a lot more garlic than the recipe called for. It tastes amazing! I absolutely love it!

This soup looks delicious! Made it tonight and it didn't turn out how I expected though, which was disappointing. Mine didn't turn out anything like the picture above, and I wasn't a fan of the flavor or consistency :( Totally sad since I absolutely love a nice bowl of soup!

Loved the flavor of this soup. The roasted garlic and white pepper really give it such a nice flavor. Mine came out rather thin as well..but definitely worth a second try with extra beans or less water to thicken it up for me. I wonder if it is due to the crockpot temp variances..some steam more leaving less liquid?

If I put the beans on before I left for work, would they be ok on warm for 8 hours? Or do you have another recommendation for a longer time in the crock pot? I have the same Hamilton crock pot Gina does.

I made this soup today and it came out great! I made some changes though that I thought some people may. I made it on the stove top may be helpful to some. I used 4, 15oz cans of beans. Because the beans are already cooked(and would not absorb the water), I reduced the amount of broth/water to 6 cups instead of 8, and the consistency was right. Just bring beans, broth sage and garlic to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes before pureeing. To increase the veggies I added wilted spinach and diced roasted red peppers as well. It was delicious!

I made this soup last night and I had the same problem with it being too watery. I ended up draining out the beans, adding a bit of the liquid and pureeing it. The flavor was okay but I think it lacked richness because I had to drain out the liquid and lose all the bouillon flavor. I'll try it again with less water to cook the beans in.

4 hours on high = 8 hours on low. Little-known fact about slow cookers is both settings reach the same temperature, the only difference is how long it takes to get there. (If they didn't, meats wouldn't cook to a safe temperature.)-Lori

The soup was a little more watery than I thought it would be. Also, I think I need to cook the beans a little longer. After I pureed it with my immersion blender there seemed to be teeny-tiny 'bits' that were beans that seemed chopped rather than pureed. It seemed a little bland too. I did not call it a loss as an overnight in the fridge can give a chance for flavors to develop. Today it was a little more flavorful and thicker. I think it would benefit from a squeeze of lemon. I might try again with more sage and garlic.

I made a few recipes from your blog and my family enjoyed a lot of them. I used great northern beans for this recipe and would not recommend. The taste wasn't pleasant even though the texture was just right. Perhaps I'll try again with the Cannellini beans as the recipe suggests.

I am making this now and so excited...one question. The sage and the garlic that we boiled...should those get pureed as well? I know we can if we want but I am not sure if it would be too much sage and garlic ... Thanks!

I see many comments about their soup being too watery or too thick. It's not because of the recipe. It's the beans. Different beans absorb different amounts of water. The age of the beans influences water absorption too. Since you can use any white bean you'll have to adjust the amount of broth or cooking time as you go. Adding broth with salt in it will slow or even reduce water absorption and make the beans tough and less flavorful. Canned beans won't have this problem since they're already cooked but they cost more than using dried beans.

This is an excellent and healthy recipe. Adding spinach (or kale,mustard or turnip greens) or sliced mushrooms adds more variety. No limits on this dish. Try something and see if you like it.

I made this last night and had it for lunch today. It was excellent. Here is what I did - let the beans soak overnight - I had the time so thought I might as well. Used 6 1/2 cups of water after hearing other reviews. I didn't have fresh sage, so I used dried Herbs de Provence and it was very very good. Otherwise, followed the recipe to a "t". Today I topped it with a bit of kosher salt and chayenne pepper.

I just made this soup last night! I added a touch of cinnamon and lemon juice just to add a little zing. Super good, and crazy easy. I already had veggie bouillon, salt, and pepper so the rest of the ingredients cost me only $3.50 at the grocery!

Hi! This sounds amazing. I was actually wondering how this freezes. Is there anything I would need to do different?Also I noticed that someone mentioned that they didn't have sage so they used dried herb de Provence if you were going to use this instead how much would you use? Thanks soooo much!

I omitted a cup of water after reading the comments but my soup still came out pretty watery and was lacking flavor. I had to add a ton of salt for it to taste like anything. Sad, I wonder what I did wrong, this sounded so good :(

Hey Gina! This soup looks fabulous, I'll be making it for my family for dinner tonight. Please keep your recipes coming! I was looking for good healthy recipe blog, and I'm so glad I discovered your site.Thank you!

I found a no salt added, no MSG chicken bouillon at a local bulk food store. (Sorry, no brand name available.) I use it all the time and the flavour is wonderful. I'm looking forward to making this soup (and so is my dietician!).Thank you!

Oh Gina you rock! I only use dried beans for a few reasons, a big one is sodium which is added for preserving the shelf life, cost is way less with dry & yes they're a bit more work, but worth it. I have a newer pressure cooker from start to finish it's 30 min., I do freeze the beans in batches, so there ya go...also yes, you can freeze soup & other dishes you make. I prepare rather huge amounts of almost everything & freeze it in batches, made homemade chili froze it servings for 4...that way if your having double that just grab 2, or freeze 2 person depending on your family size, or lifestyle. I also find that if you hold off adding all your liquids until almost the finished product you'll have more control over the thickness/thinness, It's my experience that most all soups tend to need fluid added the next day. I also try to make my own stock/broth (they are really the same) it's not as much labor as you may think...veg broth is as simple as throwing cleaned stuff that you cut off while your preparing those yummy veggies; add herbs that you like, after all you're the one who knows best what you want to taste in future dishes...also you can (I do) make a "bouquet garne" it's French for bundle your herbs drop them into the stock pot, but using cheese cloth tied with cord will give you an easier option then there's a cleaner look & taste to the final results, especially if you aren't using all fresh herbs! I've gotta say I love fresh everything, but am not going to run to the store for one, I've got a very well stocked spice shelf & have no problem grabbing a few to elevate a dish. After your goodies cook a few hours adding water, strain out everything...you then will have your own, that you know EXACTLY what's in it stock/broth & you can freeze it or put it in the fridge for I would guess like a week. Chicken & beef really just left over from a whole hen or buy inexpensive cuts of whatever is available to you & boil also you can roast it for awhile then boil, the flavor will transfer to the pot liquid, add veg scraps to your stock & cheese cloth of herbs...your a rock star, experiment, everyone who's a great chef starts out not knowing what they're doing...the best part about making stuff from scratch is that you know exactly what's in it...and that would be my GIANT reason why I prefer to do the work! Read the ingredients on everything you buy...then read between the lines because there's a whole lot they aren't telling you, blessings. Thanks to the amazing Gina for your recipes & all the time & trouble you go to bringing all of us these wonderful dishes, you're an angel, xoxo Andrea

Gina - OH. EM. GEE. I canNOT get over how good this is! While I was separating servings for the freezer and heating some up for dinner last night, I kept licking my fingers and saying out loud, "mmmm MMMM!!!!!" Thank you for an amazingly easy, filling, tummy-warming soup!

I made this today using a pressure cooker. I'm a garlic fanatic, so I think I should have used another head of garlic too add more flavor. I did eat a few cloves after I roasted them. Haha. It still came out really good. Simple yet delicious.